11 Christmas

"Hey, what you making?", Matt asked as he walked into the kitchen, looking at Zephyr, who was baking.

"I'm making the vasilopita for Christmas Eve", Zephyr answered as he continued mixing ingredients.

"It smells good", Matt said.

"Hopefully, it'll taste just as good", Zephyr replied, wiping his brown of the sweat that had built up.

"You've made it every Christmas Eve for three years straight and it always tastes great", Matt responded, "I'm sure it'll be just as good if not even better than last year's".

"I'm sure it will", Zephyr said with a knowing tone.

"What?", Matt asked, unsure as to what Zephyr was talking about.

"Are you sure that it won't be better because a certain someone is going to celebrate it with us?", Zephyr asked, while grinning.

Hearing his words, Matt's cheek's reddened slightly, "You know it's not because of that".

"Suuuuure", Zephyr drawled.

"Whatever", Matt said, waving off Zephyr's comments, "Have you made the sweets yet?"

"I've made the diples, galatopita, ravani and rizogalo", Zephyr answered, "I've still got the melomakarona, the kourabiedes, siropiasta and portokalopita to go".

"What about the lamb?", Matt questioned.

"I've seasoned and trussed the lamb. It's currently being roasted and once it's done, I'll pop it in the oven", Zephyr answered while getting out a baking tray.

"That's good. That's good", Matt said while nodding his head. After a few seconds, he snapped his fingers and said, "Hey, do you want to invite the Dunphy's over for dinner?"

Immediately, Zephyr stopped what he was doing and looked at Matt like he was an idiot, "It'll be weird for you to invite them when you don't know them that well".

"Of course I do", Matt proudly declared, "Phil and I both powerwalk with each other in the morning. I talk to Claire whenever we drop you and Alex off. Cam and I occasionally shop with each other when we're in Costco. Mitch and I chilled together at Luke's birthday party. Jay and I go to the same racketball place and we've played against each other".

"That sounds more like casual acquaintances than friends", Zephyr argued, "And besides, they'll probably be too busy celebrating with each other any-"

"There. Sent!", Matt shouted while raising his fist in celebration.

"What Did You Just Do?!", Zephyr screamed.

"I have their phone numbers so I just messaged the- Oh look, they replied", Matt said, cut off by the notification he received.

"What did they say?", Zephyr asked with trepidation.

"They said they'll come over. Let's gooooo!", Matt cheered while raising his fist.

"No you idiot!", Zephyr shouted, "Now I have to make even more food than before".

"That's sad and all, but how is that my responsibility?", Matt questioned.

"I don't have enough ingredients to make enough for everyone", Zephyr said while rubbing his forehead in frustration, "You're going to have to go to the supermarket and get some more".

"What? Noooo!", Matt exclaimed, "This is meant to be my day off. I'm meant to chillax and do what I want".

"That sounds like a you problem", Zephyr retorted, before shouting, "Now hurry up and go!".

Straightening his back, he saluted Zephyr, "Sir. Yes sir!"

"What are you waiting for? Go!", Zephyr shouted, not wanting to deal with Matt's shenanigans.

[Time Skip]

"Woah. It looks so nice in here", Desiree said while leading her daughter, Bella, into the room. Seeing all the decorations and the presents under the Christmas Tree, Bella's eyes lit up and she tried running towards them. However, she was stopped by her mother, who firmly grabbed her arm. Bending down, Desiree looked at Bella's face and asked, "What did I tell you about going for the presents immediately?"

With her hands behind her back, Bella looked down, "Not to".

"Exactly", Desiree said, "You'll get your presents after dinner. So for the next few hours, just have fun. Okay?". Bella nodded and Desiree smiled and kissed her on her forehead. Standing up and turning around, she looked at Zephyr, who was still cooking. "What is all this food?"

Looking up from the kitchen counter, Zephyr answered, "Most of it is traditional Greek food".

"Ooooh", Desiree muttered, "It all looks so good. Can I have some?"

"I made some extras that you can have, but leave some for Bella. She'll get upset if you eat all of it", Zephyr answered.

"Thanks", Desire said while grabbing what looked like an orange pie with syrup drizzling down. Using a fork, Desiree guided some of the pie into her mouth. As soon as the food entered her mouth, an explosion of flavour overwhelmed her. Incapable of controlling herself, she let out a moan of delight before swallowing. "This is sooo good. What is it?"

"It's called portokalopita, an orange pie that is a very unique Greek dessert. It tastes a lot like orange, but its taste is countered and balanced by the syrup", Zephyr replied.

"You have to teach me how to make this sometime?", Desiree muttered as she took another bite, releasing another moan.

Seeing her mom, Bella walked over to her and tugged at her dress, "Mom, can I have some?".

Met with Bella's puppy eye's Desiree crumbled and fed her daughter some of the orange pie. As soon as she had a taste, Bella's eyes widened and became bright. Just as she was about to ask for more, Zephyr sighed and muttered, "You can have one as well", while placing another slice of pie on the plate that Desiree was using. With that done, he opened the oven and placed the lamb inside. After turning it on, he walked up the stairs, going to get ready.

As Desiree and Bella were enjoying their pie, Matt walked into the room and saw them, "Hey".

Desiree didn't stop eating, in fact, she sped up, quickly gulping down the pie, "Hey, where have you been?"

Matt grinned, "It's necessary for the host to look dashing".

Desiree tilted her head slightly, "But Zephyr hasn't gotten here yet". Matt groaned when he heard her words, causing Desiree to laugh, "I'm kidding. I'm kidding".

"Honestly, what's wrong with today? First Zephyr, and now you. It's like you're all unified against me", Matt dramatically declared.

"Don't be so silly", Desiree muttered, swatting Matt on the shoulder, "Of course we are".

"Oh, the pain", Matt exclaimed, clutching his chest, "My poor heart will break if this continues".

"Don't worry. I still like you, Matt, even though you're annoying, not funny, irresponsible, lazy, boring ...", Bella continued listing, not realising that some pie was on her face.

As the list continued growing, the doorbell was rung, causing Bella to stop. After a few seconds, she scrunched her brows, trying to remember what she was saying. Matt quickly walked up to the door and opened it, met with the Pritchetts and Dunphys. "Hello you guys", he said, while greeting everyone. "Come in. Come in".

"Thanks", Claire muttered, handing Matt a bottle of wine.

"No problem", Matt answered.

"Here", Cam said while handing over the gifts he got to Matt.

Once everyone was inside, Matt closed the door and returned to the living room, seeing everyone conversing with each other. Sitting down on a couch, Cam tried some of the food laid out on the table, releasing a loud groan as soon as he tasted the food. "Oh My God! This is sooooo good!", he exclaimed, "Matt, you have to tell me the recipe for this".

Seeing his response, the rest of the people didn't hesitate and decided to try for themselves the food set out before them, all of the displaying similar responses. "What is this?", Claire asked while taking another spoon.

Matt shrugged, "I don't know. It's something Greek, but that's all I know".

"Seriously", Gloria asked, incredulous, "Then who made it?"

"Zephyr did. His mom, Nyx, was Greek and made traditional Greek food during Christmas and after her ... death, he made it his responsibility to keep the tradition going", Matt answered, taking a deep breath in between.

The atmosphere in the room became slightly depressed when they heard Matt's response, but after a while, it became lively and warm. As the party continued, everyone interacted and mingled with each other, getting to know everyone better. Amidst all the liveliness, Alex sat down on the couch, reading a book, too depressed to celebrate with everyone. As she was about to turn over to the next page, a pair of hands grabbed her glasses, with a voice whispering in her ear, "Guess who?".

Immediately recognising the voice, Alex blushed with her ears following a similar fate, becoming crimson red. Deciding to, for once, not be the one teased, Alex teasingly answered, "I don't know. Maybe Sanjay".

"Hey, that's not fair", Zephyr said as he slumped down next to her.

Alex stuck her tongue out, "I don't know what you're on about".

Rolling his eyes, Zephyr passed her glasses to her and asked, "How has your day been?"

"It's been alright", Alex responded, "Grandpa gave us an ornament which burnt part of the couch and Mom thought that it was someone smoking. To make sure she didn't cancel Christmas, I lied and told her that I was cous and that I was the one who smoked".

"That's sad", Zephyr answered, "You should've told them the truth".

Alex shrugged, "They found out later, but I'm still grounded for a whole week for lying".

"It's okay", Zephyr said, "I'll make sure to visit you every day that you're grounded".

"Thanks", Alex replied, "It'll make things slightly more bearable and less boring".

"No worries", Zephyr responded, "After all, what else are friends for?". Hearing his words, Alex pushed him a bit and rolled her eyes. "How did you find the food?"

"It was great", Alex answered, "I didn't know you were such a great cook. How did you get so good?"

"Thanks", Zephyr muttered, "And I learnt thanks to Google and from lots and lots of attempts. The first time I made food, it tasted really bad".

"No way!", Alex exclaimed.

"Yeah", Zephyr said while nodding his head, "It was so bad that it gave Dad food poisoning for like a whole week".

"Alex laughed hearing this and Zephyr followed after her. Unknown to them, Mitch had recorded the brief interaction with a smile.

(AN: Most of the food mentioned is traditional Greek food)